Target toy device



United States Patent 3,486,752 TARGET TOY DEVICE Ronald L. Colvin, St. Paul, and Wendell J. Manske,

Birchwood, Minn., assignors to Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn., a

corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 663,636 Int. Cl. A63b 63/00 US. Cl. 273102.1 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an improved target toy device which provides a novel means for indicating the location of hits thereon.

There are many games and devices presently in use which provide means for testing the ability to accurately direct a projectile toward a target. A problem with many of the existing units concerns the inconvenience associated with accurately determining the location of hits on the target. The object of this invention is to provide a novel target which makes an immediate and lasting recording of hits made by non-piercing projectiles.

Various solutions have been employed in the prior art to overcome the problem of recording target hits. For example, in US. Patent 1,091,116 (W. H. Buell) issued Mar. 24, 1914, a target was disclosed in which the impact surface of the target was treated with a fiash-ligh composition which would ignite on the impact of the projectile to produce a circumscribed illumination of the target about the point of the impact. The Buell invention was limited to use with a high velocity projectile of specific composition (e.g., a bullet), whereas the present invention may be used with low velocity projectiles of any rigid composition.

Other solutions to the problem of recording hits on a target are shown in the following:

(1) US. Patent 794,601 (Ford et a1.) issued July 11, 1905, wherein the target consisted of a facing with target image, a record sheet similar to the facing sheet, and a transfer sheet between the facing and record sheets. When a projectile contacted the target, an impression was transferred to the record sheet by means of the carbon or similar transfer paper. This invention did not provide a visual indication of the hit until the record sheet was made visible by removing it from behind the facing sheet. The present invention provides an immediate visual indication of the hit.

(2) US. Patent 1,175,692 (W. L. Boicourt) issued Mar. 14, 1916, which provided a target with a mesh facing stretched over a casing containing a compressible member impregnated with powder. Upon subjecting the target to a force of contact, the powder would permeate the mesh facing at the point of contact and thereby indicate such contact point. It was necessary, in using this target, to periodically refill the casing with powder as the powder did escape through the mesh facing when the target was subjected to a force of contact.

(3) US. Patent 3,190,654 (I. T. Ross) issued June 22, 1965, wherein the invention employed a target and pro- 3,486,752 Patented Dec. 30, 1969 "Ice jectile combination which was adapted to form dye marks on the target at the point of impact. One member was adapted to retain moisture capable of reacting with chemical dye retained by the other member of the combination. When the moisture containing member contacted the reactive dye in the other member, a reaction on the target surface resulted which provided a visual indication of the hit. Ross target was designed for use with a particular type of complementary projectile. It was necessary to add moisture to the moisture containing member at periodic intervals. The present invention may be used with any low velocity, blunt-nosed projectile and does not require the addition of moisture.

The target of this invention generally comprises the combination of a backing member and a porous facing member having a target image thereon, there being interposed between the backing member and the facing member means containing a liquid capable of causing a colored stain on the porous facing member upon impact in the target image area.

The present invention provides a target employing a new technique for indicating the area of contact of a projectile with the target. The target is particularly suitable for use where it is desired to use an unlimited variety of blunt projectiles, for example, corks fired from pop guns, blunt darts, blunt arrows, and marbles. The present invention provides realism; for example, if an animal image is used for the target and the staining medium contains a red dye, the animal appears to bleed upon scoring a proper hit; it is therefore suitable for sustained periods of entertainment. Various other target pictures and dye-color combinations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, a simple bulls-eye could be employed, or an enlarged picture of an insect could be used in combination with a green dye.

The invention may take many forms. Thus the liquid contained between the porous facing member and the backing may be contained as a saturant in a padmuch like a stamp pad, whereupon as a point on the target area of the porous facing member is pressed thereagainst upon projectile impact, liquid is wicked into the facing member to stain it at the point of impact. The liquid may b carried in small capsules which upon impact of a projectile against the target area rupture thereunder and produce a stain on the target in the area of impact. Regardless of whether the liquid is contained in capsules, pad or other means, it should be provided in sufficient volume to wick through and stain the visible side of the target.

The liquid may be a dye, ink, or the like, but is preferably a normally colorless dye precursor which forms a contrasting color with the target only upon reaction with a coreactant therefor carried by the porous facing member.

The invention will be further illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation showing one embodiment of the target;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section view of FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the facing 2 and backing 6 are held together, at least around the edges, by an adhesive, a tape 8, 10 or other appropriate fastening device. The facing member of this invention can be made from any porous fabric which will permit ready wicking of an ink or liquid dye therein, for example, absorbent woven webs or absorbent paper such as paper toweling stock. The backing can be made from any conventidnal stiff cardboard, Bristol board, plastic sheeting, metal sheeting or various laminates. The liquid color-forming agent, such as pressure-rupturable capsules 4, or a blotter containing the liquid, is interposed between the facing and the backmg.

If the liquid is contained in capsules, these can be formed by employing the method described in US. Patent 3,310,-

3 612 (G. R. Somerville, I r.) issued March 21, 1967; by coacervation of a gelatin, as taught for example in US. Patents 2,800,457 and 2,800,458 (B. K. Green) issued July 23, 1957; by polymerization of a polymer around the fill droplets or by other methods known to the art.

The colorless dye precursor or colored dye contained in the capsules may be of various bases, for example, water or oil; and the capsule shell may be, for example, a ureaformaldehyde or other polymer, Wax, gelatin or other material. Peferably the capsule shells are of a sufiiciently brittle or otherwise easily rupturable material to permit release of the fill liquid upon relatively light impact. The capsules may be as small as 1 micron or as large as 2000 microns, but are preferably within a size range of 100 to 1500 microns. An adhesive coating may be used to hold the capsules in proper position and may be, for example, a vinyl plastisol adhesive, a tacky acrylate tape, a tackified butadiene-styrene or other rubber based adhesive, or other known adhesives, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The capsules can be adhered either to the front of the stiff backing, the back of the absorbent facing, or to the front side of a third member interposed between the facing and the backing. The capsules are preferably provided only in the target area so that no stain results when the projectile misses the target. The location of the capsules can be controlled by means of stencils. After adhering the capsules in their proper location, it may be desirable to apply a thin, preferably brittle polymeric overcoating to the capsules to insure continuous adherence during use and handling of the targets. An example of one such overcoating is polystyrene resin applied from dilute solution. It is to be understood that the capsules, although preferred only in the target area of the backing, may be spread over the entire backing or facing when applied according to a color scheme such that only capsules containing certain dye colors would be located in the target area.

In a preferred embodiment of the target illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, the capsules employed contain a nonstaining, colorless dye precursor which is capable of reacting with a coreactant target facing to form a visible colored stain; and the facing member employed is a porous sheet material carrying a color-forming coreactant capable of reacting with the dye precursor to form the visible colored stain. An advantage of this embodiment is that the dye precursor is substantially non-staining to walls, carpeting, furniture, skin and clothing.

The preferred dye precursors for use in practicing the invention are dithiooxamide and more preferably the N,N-di-organo-substituted dithiooxamides, for example N,N-dibenzyldithiooxamide and N,N'-bis (2-octanoyloxyethyl) dithiooxamide. These essentially colorless dye precursors react with the heavy metal salts (nickel, cadmium, copper, cobalt, and silver, for example) to form images. Other dye precursors which may be used include crystal violet lactone and triphenyl methane leuco dyes, such as benzoyl leuco methylene blue and nitro or halo derivatives thereof, which react with the acidic materials (clays, aluminum silicates, acid-reacting salts, and weak organic acids, for example) to form images.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy having a pictorial image thereon capable of becoming colored in predetermined areas upon application of localized pressure thereto, comprising the combination of a backing member and a porous facing member having said pictorial image thereon, there being inter posed between said backing member and said facing member small, pressure-rupturable capsules containing a liquid color-forming chemical in sufiicient quantities to wick through said facing member and cause a contrasting colored stain on the visible side of said facing member upon the rupturing of said capsules by localized pressure applied to said facing member, said capsules being located in predetermined areas coinciding with the pictorial image on said facing.

2. The toy of claim 1 wherein said capsules are in the range of about 100 to 1,500 microns in size.

3. The toy of claim 1 wherein said liquid color-forming chemical is a dye precursor, and said facing member consists essentially of a porous sheet material containing a color-forming co-reactant capable of reacting with said dye precursor to form a colored stain contrasting with the said pictorial image.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,550,469 4/1951 Green et al 282-28 X 2,730,457 1/1956 Green et a1. 11736.8 2,857,698 10/1958 Arthur 3526 X 3,016,308 1/1962 Macaulay. 3,128,627 4/1964 Harris. 3,330,561 7/1967 Kandel.

FOREIGN PATENTS 351,053 4/ 1905 France.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner M. R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

